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Performing Arts presents 'Art,' a multi-lingual comedy

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The department of Performing Arts in the UL College of the Arts opens the 2015-2016 season with ART, the hit comedy about three friends and the remarkable painting that comes between them. ART by Yasmina Reza is sponsored by the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, presented in both French and English, and directed by University of Louisiana at Lafayette theatre professor Carl Granieri.

ART is on stage October 14 – November 1, 2015, at the A. Hays Town House on the UL Lafayette campus. Show times are 7:00pm Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8:00pm Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00pm Sundays. Tickets are $10 and may be ordered online at ulpfar.org or by calling the Performing Arts Office at 337-482-6357. UL Lafayette Faculty, Staff, and Students are admitted free with proof of ID (they should order in advance online).

In ART, a wealthy young doctor, Serge, astounds his two best friends, Marci and Yvonne, when he purchases an unusual— and unusually priced— contemporary painting.  When Marci confronts Serge and ridicules him for wasting his money, the three begin to question the nature of their relationship.  As the play progresses and their wrangling escalates, it soon becomes clear that ART is less about art and more about the complexities of truth and loyalty in friendship. “ART is a hilarious exploration of what we endure when we feel betrayed by our friends.  It’s cruel and painfully funny at the same time, and some of the most poignant moments in the play are also the most ridiculous.  This alchemy is the secret to the play’s worldwide acclaim,” said Granieri.  In a first for the department, the piece is being presented in both the original French as well as in English, making use of Christopher Hampton’s wonderful translation of Reza’s play.  Both the French and English casts feature talented female performers in roles typically reserved for men.  “Regardless of gender or nationality, the play is packed with insights about all those unmentionables that we’re not supposed to talk about in our relationships: who’s more powerful, who’s richer, cooler, smarter, who has more sex appeal, who’s the leader and the follower, and how do we compete with each other?”

Since its premiere two decades ago, ART has become an international theatrical sensation.  It has been translated into 35 languages and produced all over the world.  The play opened in Paris in 1994, where it won Molière Awards for best author, best play, and best production.  It went on to receive the 1997 Olivier Award for best play and the 1998 Tony Award and New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best play. “This play has touched a nerve far more universal than even Yasmina Reza probably could have once imagined,” Granieri said.

UL Lafayette’s production of ART features the acting talents of six theatre BFA students. In the English-language production, Irene Ryan Award nominee and graduating senior Candace Taylor portrays Marci, an aeronautical engineer who is bewildered and angered by her best friend’s new purchase.  Serge is played by junior BFA candidate Tycarlous Deberry, while Missy Shepherd, also a junior, portrays Yvonne, the flustered friend perennially caught in the middle.  In the French-language production, a trio of sophomore BFA acting students— Kaitlin Romero, Christian Moussiet, and Brandii Champagne— portray Marci, Serge, and Yvonne respectively. Romero, Moussiet and Champagne are not native French speakers and have made the extraordinary commitment to learning an entire full-length play in a language they don’t speak. “Working closely with the Francophone Studies department, our students in the French cast have challenged themselves in a way most professional actors would never dare.  I have been extraordinarily impressed with their work ethic and bravery in this process.  The opportunity to serve Acadiana by presenting a work in the language that is the root of our culture, however, was an opportunity we could not pass up.  The College of the Arts is thrilled to be making our available in French.”

Playwright Yasmina Reza was born in 1959 in Paris, France. After studying at Paris X University and the Jacques Lecoq Drama School, she began her career as an actress. Her first play, Conversations After a Burial (1987), gave her immediate success as a playwright. Reza’s plays have been international critical and popular successes, translated and produced worldwide. In addition to Art, she is the author of The Passage of Winter (1989), The Unexpected Man (1995), Life x 3 (2000), and Une Piece Espagnole (2004). Her novels include Hammerklavier, Desolation, and Adam Haberberg.

Translator Christopher Hampton is an award-winning writer, translator, and lyricist. His credits include translations of Reza’s Conversations After a Burial, Art, The Unexpected Man, and Life x 3. His plays The Philanthropist and Les Liaisons Dangereuses received Tony Award nominations for Best Play. His screenplay for the film Dangerous Liaisons, adapted from his play, won a 1988 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Hampton won a 1995 Tony Award for Best Book for the musical Sunset Boulevard. His most recent endeavor is writing book and lyrics (with Don Black) for Dracula, The Musical, which opened on Broadway in August.

Director Carl Granieri teaches acting, directing, and dramaturgy at UL Lafayette, and works professionally as an actor and director. He began his career on stage in Philadelphia with tent-pole companies there, including Theatre Exile, Act II Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Co., Mauckingbird Theatre Co., Simpatico Theatre Project, the PAC, Delaware Theatre Co., and the Delaware Shakespeare Festival, among others. His work on Necropolis for the London-based Beautiful Confusion was named ten-best of the 2007 International Prague Fringe Festival. From 2010-2012 he served as the Consultant for New Play Development at Philly’s Arden Theatre Co. and worked as a production dramaturg and assistant director for the Philadelphia Theatre Co., Vanity House Theatre, and Temple Rep. He directed world premiere pieces for Girasole Productions (Casual World/Intimate Heart) and ELI Radio, two of which toured internationally in 2009 and 2010 (Amore Italiano, An Evening in Naples).  Mr. Granieri also helmed projects for Philadelphia Dramatists Center and Villanova Theatre Second Stage. He serves as artistic liaison to The Marty Wilson Art and Music Foundation and is an associate of Directors Gathering, a think-tank and advocacy organization serving theatre directors, which he helped launch in 2013. Prior to joining the faculty at University of Louisiana, he held teaching posts at Rowan University, Temple University, and University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Carl holds an M.F.A in Acting from Temple University and an M.A. in Dramaturgy from Villanova University.

The production team assembled for ART includes Scenic Designer Shannon Miller, who is the UL Lafayette PFAR Production Manager and an Assistant Professor of Theatre in Tech and Design, and Costume Designer Kendra Weeks, an Instructor of Theatre in Costume Tech and Design at UL Lafayette.

The A. Hays Town House is on the grounds of the Hilliard University Art Museum, located at 710 East St. Mary Boulevard.

Performances in English:

- October 14th, 15th, 21th, and 22th at 7:00pm (Hilliard Galleries

open at 5:00pm)

- October 16th, 17th, 22nd, and 24th at 8:00pm (Hilliard Galleries open at 6:00pm)

- October 18th and 25th at 2:00pm

Performances in French:

- October 28th and 29th at 7:00pm (Hilliard Galleries open at 5:00pm)

- October 30th and 31st at 8:00pm (Hilliard Galleries open at 6:00pm)

- November 1st at 2:00 PM

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